The relationship between the time of first cleavage of fertilized cattle oocytes and their development to the blastocyst stage

Improvement of the developmental ability of nuclear transfer embryos by using blastomeres from in vitro fertilized embryos selected according to the early developmental stage and cell division status as donor cells in cattle

This study was conducted to improve the developmental ability of nuclear transfer (NT) embryos by using blastomeres from in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos with high quality as donor cells. The IVF embryos selected at the 2-cell stage at 24-h postinsemination (hpi) and again at the ≥8-cell stage at 48 hpi (Selected-IVF-embryos) showed the highest blastocyst formation rate among embryos. When blastomeres from the Selected-IVF-embryos (Selected-NT group) or Nonselected-IVF-embryos (Non-selected-NT group) were used as donor cells for NT, the blastocyst formation rate in the Selected-NT group (25.6%) was significantly higher than that in the Non-selected-NT group (13.5%). When blastomeres from the Selected-IVF-embryos at 108 (contained many cells before cell division) and 126 hpi (contained many cells immediately after cell division) were used as donor cells for NT (108- and 126-NT groups, respectively), the 126-NT group showed a significantly higher blastocyst formation rate (32.1%) than the 108-NT group (16.8%). Embryo transfer of blastocysts in the 126-NT group showed that 11 of 23 recipients became pregnant; nine calves were obtained. For the NT embryos reconstructed using in vivo derived embryos, 9 of 20 recipients became pregnant; seven calves were obtained. These results indicate that the blastocyst formation rate of NT embryos can be improved by using blastomeres from IVF embryos selected at the early developmental stage, especially immediately after cell division, and that the resultant NT embryos have a high developmental ability to progress to term that is comparable to NT embryos reconstructed using in vivo derived embryos.

The effect of gamete co-incubation time during in vitro fertilization with frozen-thawed unsorted and sex-sorted ram spermatozoa on the development of in vitro matured adult and prepubertal ewe oocytes

In vitro matured adult (Experiment 1) and prepubertal (Experiment 2) ewe oocytes were co-incubated with unsorted or sex-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa for 2 to 3 h (short) or 18 to 20 h (long) to determine the effects of reducing the gamete co-incubation time during IVF on subsequent embryonic development in vitro. For oocytes derived from adult ewes, there were no differences in oocyte fertilization and cleavage at 24 h post insemination (hpi) between types of spermatozoa or co-incubation times (P > 0.05). By 48 hpi, oocyte cleavage was higher after a short (390/602, 64.8%) compared with a long (381/617, 61.7%) co-incubation (P < 0.05), and was not significantly different for unsorted (266/372, 71.5%) and sex-sorted (505/849, 59.9%) spermatozoa. Blastocyst formation from cleaved oocytes was similar for unsorted (150/266, 56.4%) and sex-sorted (295/505, 58.4%) spermatozoa, but was higher after a short (240/390, 61.5%) than long (205/381, 53.8%) co-incubation (P < 0.05). Oocyte development to the blastocyst stage was not different for unsorted (150/372; 40.3%) and sex-sorted (295/847; 34.8%) spermatozoa but was significantly increased by a short (240/602, 39.9%) compared with a long (205/617, 33.2%) co-incubation. Fertilization of oocytes from prepubertal ewes was similar for types of spermatozoa and for duration of co-incubation. Oocyte cleavage (48 hpi) was similar for a short (241/377, 63.9%) and long (226/349, 64.8%) co-incubation with unsorted spermatozoa, but was increased (P < 0.05) by a long co-incubation (286/500, 57.2% versus 163/517, 31.5%) with sex-sorted spermatozoa. Blastocyst formation from cleaved oocytes was similar for unsorted (230/467, 49.3%) and sex-sorted (186/449, 41.4%) spermatozoa, and a short (200/404, 49.5%) or long (216/512, 42.1%) co-incubation. However, oocyte development to the blastocyst stage was higher (P < 0.05) after IVF with unsorted (230/726, 37.1%) than sex-sorted (186/1017, 18.3%) spermatozoa. Reducing the duration of gamete co-incubation did not deleteriously affect the in vitro development of adult and prepubertal ewe derived oocytes after IVF with unsorted and sex-sorted spermatozoa. In general, sex-sorting had no substantial influence on fertilization and embryo development rates.

In vitro fertilization with flow-cytometrically-sorted bovine sperm

An attractive feature of IVF is that fewer sexed sperm are needed than for artificial insemination. However, sperm sexed by flow cytometry/cell sorting are probably pre-capacitated, necessitating modifications to standard IVF systems for optimal success. With current procedures, the percentages of oocytes fertilized with sorted and unsorted frozen bovine sperm are similar, and events during the first cell cycle are timed similarly for sorted and unsorted sperm. However, in most cases, blastocyst production with sorted sperm was approximately 70% of controls produced with unsorted sperm. In some early studies, there appeared to be an unexplained delay of about half a day in blastocyst development. Nevertheless, some dozens of apparently normal calves, pre-sexed with 90% accuracy, have resulted from frozen embryos produced via IVF with sexed sperm. IVF also has proven useful as a bioassay for improving sperm-sorting procedures such as determining potential detrimental effects of laser power. It is likely that use of IVF in cattle breeding programs will increase considerably when sexed, frozen sperm become commercially available.

Timing of the first cleavage post-insemination affects cryosurvival of in vitro-produced bovine blastocysts

The time of the first cleavage of bovine zygotes during in vitro culture can affect the rate of development and cell number of the blastocysts. The aim of this work was to study the effect of the timing of first cleavage on the cryosurvival of the resulting blastocysts. Following standard IVM and IVF, zygotes were cultured in modified synthetic oviduct fluid (SOF), with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) added 48 hr post insemination, in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2, 5% O2 and 90% N2. Embryos which cleaved by 24, 27, 30, 33, or 36 hr after insemination (IVF) were harvested and further cultured to the blastocyst stage (day 7 or day 8 post IVF). All developing blastocysts on days 7 and 8 were classified into three groups and were cryopreserved by vitrification. Group A consisted of blastocysts (<150 microm, small blastocysts); group B consisted of expanded or hatching blastocysts (>150 microm, large blastocysts); and group C consisted of morphologically poor quality blastocysts. The vitrification solution consisted of 6.5 M glycerol and 6% bovine serum albumin in PBS (VS3a). Thawed embryos were cultured further and survival was defined as the re-expansion and maintenance of the blastocoel over 24, 48, and 72 hr, respectively. Overall survival and hatching at 72 hr post-thawing was higher in blastocysts formed by day 7 than those formed by day 8 (60% vs. 40% survival; 63% vs. 45% hatching). Large blastocysts from day-7 and day-8 groups survived significantly better than small or poor quality blastocysts (76% vs. 63% and 31%; 72% vs. 30% and 26%, respectively; P < 0.05). Day-7 blastocysts from the 27- and 30-hr cleavage groups survived significantly better than those from the 36-hr group (63% and 66% vs. 25%, P < 0.05). Day-8 blastocysts from later cleaved (30 hr) zygotes had a higher survival than the 27-hr cleavage groups (52% vs. 26%, P < 0.05). These results indicate that the day of blastocyst appearance, developmental stage, and timing of the first cleavage post-insemination can influence the cryosurvival of bovine blastocysts following vitrification.